International visitors projected to spend $15 billion

New Zealand’s tourism sector is forecast to grow significantly over the next seven years, with international visitors projected to spend $15.3 billion a year by 2023, Tourism Minister Paula Bennett says.

Figures from the New Zealand Tourism Forecasts 2017-2023 released today by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), show the real value that tourism will continue to have to New Zealand’s economy.

“The figures released today confirm that New Zealand’s tourism sector is in good shape. Visitor arrivals are projected to reach 4.9 million annually by 2023 – up 39 per cent from the 3.5 million visitors who came here in 2016,” Mrs Bennett says.

“The Government is focused on helping the tourism sector attract visitors who bring value to our communities – those who spend more, stay longer and explore regions around New Zealand, as well as the main tourist spots.

“We still have work to do, but it’s great to see that the amount visitors spend per day is expected to grow by 9 per cent over the forecast period. For our second largest market, China, this figure is 17 per cent.

“Overall, international visitor spending is forecast to exceed $15 billion annually by 2023, up an impressive 52 per cent from annual visitor spending of $10 billion in 2016. This equates to a solid growth rate of over 6 per cent per annum, which is great news for our regional economies.

“The figures confirm the importance of China to our tourism industry; with China set to become our largest tourist market by spend. Chinese visitor spending will add $4.3 billion annually to our economy by 2023.

“Tourism is already our biggest export earner, and adds immense value to our country by directly employing over 180,000 people. With this strong growth, we must continue to ensure that our regions have the infrastructure and ability to meet the pressures that tourism brings.

“That’s why yesterday Conservation Minister Maggie Barry and I announced a $178 million tourism package that will help councils facing funding restraints to build the infrastructure they need and also enable the development of tourist facilities on conservation land and the expansion of the Great Walks network,” Mrs Bennett says.